It’s been a big news for a few days now that Roger Federer, the current Number 2 in the world tennis ranking in 2009, won his first French Open title.It’s not just his first French Open title but his 14th Grand Slam title which tied Pete Samprase’s record at last. And at the same time, he became the 6th man in history achieving the career Grand Slam.Now it is no doubt that he’s become the best tennis player ever in history.

Looking back through the tournament, there were a lot of dramas.Djokovic, to start with, lost in an early stage (3rd round) to Kohlschreiber in straight sets, andNadal was upset by Soderling in the 4th round, contrary to all expectations to win the 5th French title in a row.Murray was not the exception. He lost to Gonzalez in the quarter final in 4 sets .

So the winning road was pretty much open to anybody then, and it seemed so natural for Roger to win this time because He had lost to Nadal 3 times in a row in the finals from ‘06 to ‘08.Obviously, all the expectations were turned to Federer.

But it wasn’t easy at all.Roger seemed off balance and struggled to win in almost every match until he advanced to the final, knowing his rivals fell one after another.But, you know, it’s Roger. He came up with extremely great shots and serves just in time to turn things around.

The opponent in the final was Robin Soderling ranked 23.He was the one who beat Nadal, Davydenko and Gonzalez and was already a hero.He looked unbeatable with his strong forehand winners and big serves.

But again, Roger is Roger.He knew how to play against Soderling.He had 9 winning streaks against him.He never made him feel comfortable during the match. He kept the bounces low,made him play way back from the baseline and finished with amazing drop shots.That was incredible.It looked like beautiful art work to me.

Now our whole attention moves to Wimbledon.What drama will be waiting for them?Can Roger come back to No 1?Don’t miss it.

I was shocked into silence last night.Rafa (Rafael Nadal) the king of clay, who is the present world No1and the defending champion, has lost on clay.He couldn't even reach the quarter final.

This was his first loss at Roland Garros, Paris, in four yearssince he won his first Grand Slam on his first French Open four years ago."You need a defeat to give value to your victories." he said.He is such a great player. I feel for him.

Good thing is that his unexpected loss gave Roger a chance to win the title.He has won 13 Grand Slams but never won this one.But it's not an easy task. Anything could happen on this clay court.

Murray, the world No. four, for example, is still there.He's been keeping up his strength and he looks very confident when he plays.

But Roger・・・ he knows how to win in the big occasions like this.The both player will meet at the final if they win a couple of more matches.

Do you know "YOUNG AMERICANS"?
It is a nonprofit group of, as its name suggests, young Americans,
mostly University students.
They give children a singing and dancing workshop in Japan every year.
300 kids from 6 to 18 years old get together and develop their self-expression
through singing and dancing intensively for 3 days
and give us a musical show with YA members on the last day.
When I watched the show last year, I was totally blown away.
I couldn't believe they had worked only for 3 days.
All the participants were so vivid, active and full of confidence.

As it is said that we Japanese are not very good at expressing ourselves,
I think this program has a significant impact on the kids' later life.

This year I put my daughters in it.
I can say that it changed their life.
They loved the program.
They are not good at singing nor dancing but that wasn't a problem.
They naturally moved their body with music and were never shy to show it.
"I can't wait for the next workshop."
Their eyes were twinkling like stars.

It is not the money I'm talking about.
This is about remodeling our house.
We're living without the kitchen now.
We survived without the bath and the washing stand last week.
And now and then the lifeline such as electricity, gas and water system goes down too.

You know...it's HOTTTTTTTTT!

My husband is out for work. Children are also busy at school.
So practically I am the only one to deal with this harsh situation.
You can't just sit and watch but you always sort things out
which to throw away and which to save.
We've been living in this house over 13 years.
Things that We needed is no longer valuable to us.
I was almost shocked to see that we'd racked up such a huge amount of craps.
I went ahead and threw everything away.
It was such a nice feeling.
I also have to dust out the whole house in this hot weather.
I lost 2 kilos in 1 week, which is a good thing.(^ー^* )フフ♪

I couldn't imagine that I would come through this hot survival 4 weeks.
But now we have a new washing bowl and a new bathroom.
We can see everything's changing dramatically.
We still have 9 days to go but we see the goal now.
I will pull myself together by some means and put everything back in places.

I was shaking on that day holding a camera in my left hand and
my cell phone in my right hand.
It was the day for the anouncement of her entrance examination result.
I was attending my younger daughter's song festival then.
I couldn't miss the festival because she was playing the piano as an accompanist.
I tried to vidotape it but I couldn't get her picture well.
You know...I was shaking.
It wasn't my cell phone that vibrated but me!^^;
It vibrated when the next song was just about to start.
"I xxxx it!"
"What?" I couldn't get the sentence.
My voice must have carried to the whole place.^^;
"I DID IT!!!!!!!" She said it again.
Now I knew...She did it!

A week has passed.
All our neighbors, relatives and friends have congratulated her.
We want to thank all of you for your warm support.
And you know what?
My younger daughter has just recieved her EIKEN result.
She passed the pre-second grade at last!!!